ID theft charges filed in Conewago Twp. case

Police say Philadelphian used counterfeit credit card to make purchases.

A Philadelphia man is in Adams County prison after being arrested this week at his home and charged with 42 criminal counts related to an alleged identity theft, and purchases made on a counterfeit credit card.

Mamadou A. Bah, 28, is jailed in lieu of $200,000 bail.

Bah's arrest follows a months-long investigation by police. A Conewago Township resident alerted police in late September that nearly $474 in fraudulent purchases were made with his credit card, even though the card was never physically stolen from him, according to documents filed with Magisterial District Judge Daniel Bowman.

In response, Conewago Township Police began reviewing surveillance footage from the four sites where purchases were made, all of which were in Delaware, the documents indicate.

Footage from a Milford, Del. Walmart showed the man who made the purchase exit the store and drive off in a silver Chevrolet Malibu. A trace on the vehicle's license plate showed that it was rental car. And records showed that Bah had rented the vehicle at the Philadelphia International Airport on Sept. 20 and returned it on Sept. 24, according to the documents.

Police through their investigation also were able to identify the man seen on several surveillance reels as Bah, according to the documents.

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Bah, who police say is a native of Guinea, West Africa, allegedly used a card containing the Conewago Township man's number to purchase items including a gift card, baby formula and cartons of cigarettes.

One of the counts for which Bah is charged is for his allegedly possessing equipment used to make a counterfeit credit card.

Surveillance footage from some of those purchases allegedly shows him using a second card to make additional purchases, but it's unclear from the documents whether those purchases might have been fraudulent.

The documents also note a police report from Bah's July 2011 arrest in Wicomico County, Md. that allege he was pulled over in a rental vehicle with a counterfeit New Jersey driver's license identifying him as Mike Duncan. Police seized from the vehicle 160 packs of cigarettes and nearly 90 gift cards, according to the documents.

For the case affecting the Conewago Township man, Bah is charged with four counts each of identity theft and felony access-device fraud, three counts each of theft by deception, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, two counts each of attempted forgery and attempt to receive stolen property, eight counts of misdemeanor access-device fraud, six counts of forgery, and one count of unlawful device making equipment.

His preliminary hearing on the charges has been scheduled for April 17.